Birthday at Home
by DoctorWhovian18
Summary: Post WotR: Merry's first birthday at home since leaving the Shire. Of course, everyone has something big planned. Just a nice and simple one-shot celebrating Merry Brandybuck. Book-verse.


**My friend Aria Breuer and I both decided to do one-shots to celebrate Merry Brandybuck's birthday :) Hers is called Gifts for Merry and I'd recommend any who like the hobbit as much as we do should go and read it. This is just something sweet that I think might have happened at some point before Frodo left for Tol Eressea. The ideas used in this story were inspired by my conversations with Aria.**

 **Disclaimer: None of these wonderful hobbits belong to me, but to J. R. R. Tolkien.**

Merry opened his eyes and stared at the roof of his room, in his home, in Brandy Hall.

His first birthday home in a very long time.

He took a few moments to absorb that, smiling to himself. He knew that Frodo, Sam, Pippin and his parents - among other relatives - had been planning something and, despite his overwhelming curiosity, he had been determined to keep away. After all, he loved any and all good surprises.

There was a slight nock on his door.

"Merry, dear. Is something wrong? You're not normally late for first breakfast, and everyone's waiting."

His mother. His sweet mother who had been altogether cross with him for leaving the Shire without telling her, but who had practically not let him out of her sight since returning. She didn't seem to care that he was a warrior of Rohan, or that he had singlehandedly led the Scouring of the Shire, or that he had helped to slay the Witch-King. She was his mother, and he would always be her son.

"I'm coming now!" he called back, getting up and putting on his best clothes for the day.

As soon as he showed his face in the kitchen, both of his parents embraced him and wished him a Happy Birthday. Frodo and Pippin, who were also present, did the same.

"Where's Sam?" he asked, noticing the missing hobbit.

Frodo waved a hand vaguely. "Oh, he's busy. You'll see him later."

Merry raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment. They ate first breakfast and chatted until second breakfast. Then Merry went back into his room and gathered his gifts for those who were there.

To Frodo he gave a new fishing rod, as his elder cousin had recently shown a strong desire to learn the skill. To Pippin, a new sword that the local blacksmith had helped him forge, as Pippin's had gotten quite dented when he accidentally threw it into a tree while training with it.

"Don't break this one. Strider wouldn't be very happy if he called you to Minas Tirith and you turned up with a bent sword." Merry joked, grinning at Pippin, who nodded and grinned back.

His parents received identical glass-blown birds. They weren't very detailed, or large, as Merry had only been learning the skill for a few months, but both of his parents beamed and thanked him.

As they pulled away from hugging him again, there was a knock on the door.

Merry went to open it and was happily surprised at who it was. "Gandalf! I wasn't expecting you to come!"

The Wizard smiled warmly down at Merry, making him feel not quite as small as he usually did when in the presence of Tall Folk. "Happy birthday, young Meriadoc. Has it been a good one so far?"

Merry nodded eagerly. "I've handed out my presents to everyone except Sam and my other relatives."

Gandalf held up a finger. "But do not forget that you will also be receiving presents."

Merry frowned. "But..."

Gandalf cut him off. "You missed one birthday since leaving the Shire, and the other was held in Minas Tirith. Your first birthday back at home is not going to be ignored. You've done your present-giving. It's everyone else's turn."

He sighed but nodded; who would refuse gifts? Not him.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, proving the age old expression; time flies when you're having fun. Gandalf disappeared just after lunch, with Sam taking his place at the table. He apologised for being late and graciously thanked Merry for his gift of a book about Strider's history with the Elves, written by Elladan and Elrohir and given to Merry not long before they parted company.

Then, not long after that - or it might have been several hours, Merry lost complete track of time - Frodo tugged on his sleeve and led him outside.

"Where are we going?" Merry asked, looking back in confusion at his home, where he could see the silhouettes of his family and friends through one of the many windows. It had grown dark early today. Already their shadows had begun melting away into the darkness of the floor.

"You'll see." was all his cousin offered. Frodo seemed to be leading him towards the Brandywine, where Merry could just make out the shape of a boat in the gloom.

True enough, Frodo pulled him onto the boat and begun paddling them across the wide river.

"Frodo, what is going..."

"Shh!" Frodo snapped, but he was grinning. "Be patient, Merry. Sometimes you're worse than Pippin."

They had reached the middle of the river. Frodo looked towards something back on shore and several minutes passed, while Merry fidgeted and longed to look. Then, finally, Frodo told Merry to turn around.

His breath sucked in sharply at the scene in front of him.

The rolling hills and houses of Brandy Hall had suddenly come alive with tiny pinpricks of light from every single window. People had crowded on the shores and Merry recognised every single family member and friend he knew. But that wasn't what captured Merry's attention.

In the sky, crackling and sparkling in letters made of Gandalf's famous fireworks, read a huge 'Happy Birthday, Merry'.

Merry felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. He had never had a birthday like this before. Grinning widely, he turned back to Frodo and embraced his cousin. Instinct told him that it had been all, if not mostly, Frodo's idea.

"Thank you!"

Laughing, Frodo hugged him back. "No need to thank me, Merry. I had to repay you in some way for everything you've done for me."

Merry just grinned more. He was so glad to see Frodo happy, as he had been even quieter than normal and would often seek his own company over that of others. However, for the first time in what felt like forever, the smile and brightness in Frodo's eyes were genuine.

They rowed back to shore, where the rest of the party was revealed. The presents were all wonderful, but when he saw the cake Merry's jaw just dropped.

Again, he knew Gandalf must have had a hand in it, because the cake was decorated with about thirty miniature hobbits all climbing up the different layers of the cake, while on the very top stood a mini Merry, sword in hand.

It tasted wonderful, and for that he congratulated Sam.

All in all, it was a birthday he would never forget.

 **There we go :) I know it was short, but hopefully also sweet. I hope everyone enjoyed that. I haven't given a load of attention to Merry in my stories, except to be a secondary character, so I hope I did him justice here ^_^**


End file.
